Page 49 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 69

YOU ARE WHAT

YOU EAT

The Chinese proverb says ‘you are what you eat’,
it’s the same for our Koi. Here are some notes,
including details of how one Koi keeper feeds
his Koi and prepares them for a Show.

David Brown.

As I explained in my last article, Koi require a
different type and quantity of food depending on their
age, the temperature and the time of the year, also they
require smaller quantities of food throughout the day
rather than a couple of larger quantities. Some people
say, feed the amount that the Koi can consume within
KOI REQUIRE 5 to 10 minutes, others may take a different view. I
know that when Koi are hungry the food is gone as
A DIFFERENT soon as it gets into the water. Whatever view you take,
TYPE OF FOOD any uneaten food must be removed otherwise it will
decompose and put an additional load on the filter.
DEPENDING ON
Some people calculate the exact amount of food
THEIR AGE, THE required, based on the weight of the Koi, then divide it

TEMPERATURE by the number of feeds per day. I’ve heard it quoted
that Tosai need 3% of body weight per day whereas
AND THE TIME larger Koi require only 2%. Recently I was talking to a
friend who had just come back from Japan, who said
OF THE YEAR that some Koi breeders he spoke to only feed 1% of
body weight on larger Koi, sometimes less.
I know there are formulas on the internet to calculate
the average weight of a Koi based on their length, and
good luck to anyone who wants to work it all out, and I
mean good luck, some people get a lot of pleasure
doing it.

Several of my friends raise Tosai (Koi up to one year old)
in a separate pond, so they can heat them to around
24ºC and feed them a high protein food to maximise
their growth, but not everyone has that luxury. It’s all
about knowing your individual Koi, and experience tells
you when they look too fat, too thin, or don’t look happy.

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